Acts 26

1Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

2“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you that I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

3especially because you are thoroughly familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. So I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4All the Jews know the way I have lived from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

5They have known me for a long time, and if they are willing, they can testify that I lived as a Pharisee, according to the strictest party of our religion.

6And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise God made to our ancestors,

7the promise our twelve tribes hope to see fulfilled as they earnestly worship night and day. It is because of this hope, Your Majesty, that I am being accused by Jews.

8Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

9I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.

11Many times I punished them in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. In my furious rage against them I even pursued them to foreign cities.

12On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

13About noon, Your Majesty, while I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.

14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of what you have seen of me and of what I will show you.

17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you

18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

20Instead, I declared first to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds worthy of repentance.

21That is why the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

22But I have had help from God to this very day, and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike. I say nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:

23that the Messiah would suffer, and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24While Paul was making this defense, Festus shouted, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane.”

25But Paul replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. What I am saying is true and reasonable.

26For the king knows about these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because this was not done in a corner.

27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

28Agrippa said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”

29Paul replied, “Whether in a short time or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

30Then the king stood up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

31After they had left the room, they said to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”